Kanto Alone!
by iggychan89
Summary: This series of stories that are based on the title "Hoenn Alone!" is my take on how I would have written the Pokemon series. Ash is slightly smarter in the beginning and only gets smarter as it should have been . *DISCONTINUED*
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Wow, it's been ages since I have written a story. I've had this thing swirling around my head for days now and I had trouble starting on it. Bear with me here. Oh and yes, it is a Pokemon fic. Not my first one, but my first one to be published on here. The last Pokemon fic I wrote was years ago.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Pokemon franchise. If I did, well, this story is what I think should have happened.

They made Ash dumber than dirt, which I found rather odd considering how much he loves Pokemon. One would think he would study up on them as much as possible before starting his journey. Well, no need to worry, he won't be as stupid here, but the story starts off after he throws that rock at those Pidgey.

Oh and as a side note, he doesn't go on a catching spree, but he does catch more Pokemon than he did in the Anime. No, he will not be a total genius in this, he does a lot of research and training to gain his knowledge more than anything. Ash gets one, count 'em, ONE legendary, and he doesn't get it until much later (meaning, not this story but its sequel). You are more than welcome to try and guess which one it is. He doesn't use it during gym battles, but he does use it as a last resort in league battles.

Also, Team Rocket is not an established group in this story. No, it's on the verge of being formed instead. My reason for this? I hate Team Rocket with a passion. However, Ash does meet Meowth later on in the story. Whether he befriends him or makes an enemy of him is a secret.

Anyway, onto the story since I know you are tired of reading these boring notes! (By the way, I am looking for a beta reader. Send me a message if interested.)

**Chapter 1**

Ash sighed and sat down against the tree Pikachu was in after putting away his pajama top. He tilted his head upward looking at the laughing, yellow mouse as it rolled around on the branch in obvious amusement.

"Think it's funny do you?"

"Pika Pika!" nodded the giggling Pikachu as it held its paws up to its mouth in a poor attempt to stop the laughing.

Ash growled under his breath as he decided to stand back up to look at the Pokemon who, for some unknown reason that only it would know, would not listen the the raven haired trainer. He crossed his arms in front of him and glared at the little menace before turning his back to the Pikachu.

"Look, I'm going to go down to the river and get some water. You stay here and do... Whatever it is you want to do. I'll be back in a little bit." With that, Ash walked over to his backpack, picked it up and started heading toward the nearest river he knew of. He visited this route often enough when he was younger that Ash knew the place by heart. Pikachu merely yawned before curling up into a ball and falling asleep.

Ash finally found his way to the river he often played in before his journey and sat down in the grass along the bank of it. He put his head in his hands and sat staring at the river for some time just thinking about his journey ahead of him. _There won't BE any journey unless I can get Pikachu to start listening to me! Or by some miracle, capture a Pokemon that will listen without Pikachu's help. Ha, as if that will happen!_ The unfortunate trainer just sighed and fished his water bottle out of his backpack and held it in the river to catch the flowing water. After filling it to the brim, he capped the bottle and put it back in his backpack.

As he stood up, a keening cry of pain in the distance caught his attention. He straightened himself up and ran down along the side of the river in the direction the cry was coming from. _Something's hurt!_ Ash finally made his way near where the noise came from and shoved his way through some bushes, not minding as he got scratched by the branches.

Finally breaking through, Ash stopped dead in his tracks as he saw what lay before before him. A long, pink, serpentine creature was curled up crying out in obvious pain. Ash noticed it was covered in scratches and cuts and was bleeding somewhat.

Gritting his teeth in anger at whatever or whoever did this, Ash stepped forward cautiously towards the pink Pokemon and dropped down to his knees in front of its head and gingerly stretched out his hand to pet it. Being careful of the scratches on the head, Ash gently stroked the creature, prompting it to open its eyes a bit to look at him. Ash noticed that despite the skin being pink, the eyes of the hurt creature were a beautiful sapphire blue that were currently dulled with pain.

Blinking out of his trance, the beginning trainer pulled out his PokeDex to quickly scan what this serpent-like creature was. He wasn't disappointed.

**Dratini, the Dragon Pokemon. Thought of only to be a legend in the past, more and more are slowly being discovered. The most common evidence these "Mirage" Pokemon have are the shed skins they leave behind.**

Ash was floored! A highly rare Pokemon was right in front of him, and a Dratini no less! _But why is this one pink and not blue like the one in the PokeDex?_ He snapped back to reality faster than a whip as the Dratini gave another cry.

"Hey, don't worry Dratini, I'll get you some help, I promise! First though, let's heal some of those cuts on you."

As he was saying that, Ash started rummaging around in his backpack looking for the Potion that he was saving in an emergency. _Ah ha! I found it!_ He pulled out the bottle of Potion and gently lifted the head of the little dragon and laid it in his lap.

"Now this will sting a bit, but only for a couple of minutes, OK? That just means it is working to heal your wounds."

Dratini gave a weak but affirmative keen as Ash set to spraying the worst of the wounds. _These look like they came from either banging into rocks or an attack from bird Pokemon._ The little dragon tensed up and grit its teeth as a stinging pain washed over its body as the Potion went to work in healing its body. All the while Ash was gently stroking its head in a calming manner.

After about 5 minutes, Dratini was looking better and stronger than it did and thanked Ash in the only way it knew how: A tackle and nuzzle to the face. The trainer laughed as Dratini did so and eventually sat back up from the ground that he was knocked to.

"I'm glad you're OK now Dratini, but we should still get you to a Pokemon Center for a full recovery. Though I'm not sure it would be safe for you to stay out in the open like this. Most people tend to get greedy when they see a Pokemon like you."

Dratini simply tilted its head in a cute way as though contemplating Ash's words. Its face lit up in happiness as an idea popped into the dragon's head. Using it's tail, it wound it around Ash's waist and plucked an empty PokeBall from his belt and held it up in front of the trainer's face waiting for a reponse.

Ash was gobsmacked as the Dratini pulled off a PokeBall from his belt and held it in front of him as if to say "what are you waiting for?" Ash took the PokeBall from Dratini's tail and clicked the button to enlarge it. Looking back at the little pink dragon, he asked, "Are you sure?" Dratini nodded yes and Ash literally beamed as he touched the capture device to the side of the dragon's body.

The ball wriggled back and forth a few times in his hand before finally giving a "Ping!" to declare a successful capture. Ash stood up to stretch his aching legs before happly decalring, "I caught a Dratini!" He was about to start running toward Viridian City before he remembered he had to go back for Pikachu. _Well, maybe this will get that disobedient rodent to listen to me. Hopefully..._

**End of Chapter 1**

Well, there's the first chapter! Next chapter we head for Viridian City and hang out in the Pokemon Center for a bit. Will Pikachu also start listening to Ash? Stay tuned.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes it is a shiny Dratini and yes he does keep it for the remainder of his journey just like he does Pikachu in the Anime. And while he does develop a bond with Pikachu, it will be like any of his other Pokemon since he will be rotating. You'll see how that works out next chapter. *Wink*


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the awesome reviews guys! I know some of you are concerned about Ash getting a Dratini, let alone a shiny one, this early on, but I assure you he will not become an uber trainer by any means. He will train hard and become strong like any trainer should, but that is it. For the most part, however, Ash will keep the Dratini a secret for a while at least.

Anyway, on to the story!

**Chapter 2**

"Pikachu, Pikachu! Where is that Pokemon?" Ash grumbled as he continued to search for his first ever Pokemon.

He pulled away some berry bushes near the tree he left Pikachu to find it munching on some of the berries it had plucked with a contented look on its face.

"There you are Pikachu! Come on, we have to leave." Pikachu looked at Ash with irritation and turned his back to him while continuing to eat the berries.

Ash's left eye twitched as his patience finally ran out. "OK, that's it!" The trainer suddenly lunged forward and took a hold of the little yellow mouse who was frantically trying to get away. He tucked the struggling rodent under his arm.

"Sorry buddy, but this has gone far enough."

Pikachu, not liking those words _at all_ decided to give Ash the shock of his life. Literally.

"Pi - Ka - CHUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The unlucky trainer fell down to the ground twitching in pain. Pikachu on the otherhand had a satisfied look to its face as it watched its trainer twitching from the volts that were coursing through his body.

After a few moments however, Ash suddenly shot straight to his feet and glared at the mouse who dared to shock him... Again.

"That's it, we're obviously getting nowhere with this attitude of yours! I know you hate it, but you're going back inside your PokeBall!"

Pikachu suddenly got a terrified look on its face as Ash, quicker than he would have thought, whipped out Pikachu's PokeBall and returned Pikachu to it before the mouse could escape. After shrinking it and placing it on his belt, Ash flopped down on the ground and rubbed his eyes in tiredness. _Man what a day!_ He pulled out his water bottle from his backpack and drank from it for a couple of seconds before putting it back. Reluctantly, Ash got back to his feet and continued his trek toward Viridian City.

About a mile and a half later, Ash finally saw the outskirts of the city and picked up his pace a bit. _Almost there!_ Finally, he was within the outskirts of the city in a residential neighborhood and noticed the sun had sunk a bit lower in the sky. Stopping to lean against an empty police outpost to catch his breath a bit, he looked around trying to find a map of the city. He slapped his forehead once he realized there was a rather large one right across the street. _I must be more tired than I thought._

Walking across the street, Ash studied the map trying to find the Pokemon Center and the PokeMart. He finally spotted them. _Oh good, they are on the same street. That makes things much easier._ Doing his best to memorize where he was supposed to go, he carried on down the street making his way into the inner city.

After thirty minutes of more walking and more grumbling on Ash's part about neighborhoods too large for their own good, he stood on the threshhold of the inner city. Staring at the tall building for only a couple of seconds, Ash darted forward and started sprinting in, surprisngly, the right direction toward the Pokemon Center. _Left, right, another left. I feel like I'm in the army!_

Ten minutes later he passed through the doors of the Pokemon Center panting. By this time the sun he saw on the outskirts of the city was just about to disappear over the horizon. Ash walked up to the counter and leaned on it a bit to catch his breath while waiting on someone to come to the counter. Five minutes went by without anyone coming out and Ash was fed up with waiting. He looked around and finally spotted a silver bell near the Center's computer and walked over to it.

Raising his hand above it, he gently tapped it once and a chime rang through the waiting room. Still not getting a response, he tapped it again with a little more force. A tick started forming in his eye and he then started to repeatedly pound on the bell.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!"

Ash whipped his head around toward the source of the voice and noticed a young woman with pink hair coming out of a side door. Ah, a Nurse Joy. About time.

"I'm sorry I didn't respond to the first bell chime, I was in surgery with a patient."

Ash looked at her with a sheepish face and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh... Heh heh, sorry about that then."

Nurse Joy gave him a forgiving smile and asked what she could do for him. Ash handed over his two PokeBalls to her and told her the story about how he found the Dratini and what he did to help it.

"I must say it is surprising to find a Dratini around these parts all alone considering they like to be together in small groups from what I've heard. I'm just thankful you managed to heal the worst of its wounds or it could have died. Well, it will take a while for me to fully heal it, so why don't you go and wait in the waiting room."

Ash nodded and asked her to just give Pikachu a once over since it was perfectly fine. _Other than its attitude of course._ He then headed on over to a waiting bench and sat down. Looking up at the clock, Ash noticed it was 8 PM and just sighed. _Man what a long day._

Fifteen minutes passed and Ash was getting bored out of his mind. He turned his head toward the video phones along the wall on the right side of the Center and just contemplated on whether to give his mom and Professor Oak a call. _Aw what the heck._ Getting up and stretching any kinks out, he walked over to a booth and dialed his home phone after sitting down in a chair. A few rings later and the "Voice Only" came up on the screen.

"Hello? This is the Ketchum residence."

Hearing his mom's voice, Ash smiled.

"Hey mom, it's Ash."

He heard her give a bit of squeal and then some odd noises later, she changed the "Voice Only" over to the video conference.

"Hello honey! Where are you calling from?"

"The Pokemon Center in Viridian City."

"Oh honey I am so proud of you. Your father took four days to get the Viridian City when he first started his journey and yet you only made it in one day! You're the apple of his eye you know."

Ash nearly snorted when he heard about his father making it here in four days. _Yeah, because he probably went on a catching spree and was training for those four days._

"Well, I don't know about that mom. I only managed to get one new Pokemon. Though I suppose what Pokemon it is makes up for my lack of catching a bunch of others, heh heh. That and I still haven't gotten Pikachu to listen to me."

Delia merely blinked at Ash and her face suddenly became stern totally forgetting his comment on catching a new Pokemon.

"Don't you dare talk down about yourself Ash Ketchum! I will not have it, you hear me?"

Ash quickly nodded and gulped and Delia's face softened.

"OK Ash, have a safe journey and remember, I love you. Give me another call soon, bye!"

"I love you too mom and I will. Bye!"

With that, he hung up and shook his head a few times. _Same old mom._ Picking up the phone again, he dialed Professor Oak's number. Getting no answer and only the answering machine he hung up and sighed. _I should have known. Oh well, I'll try again in Pewter City. Wait, that reminds me, I should look up the gym leaders._ Jumping up quickly, he headed to the other side of the Pokemon Center and plopped himself in front of a computer and booted it up. _Geez, could they make this place any bigger?_

Logging into the guest account, he opened up a browser and typed in the league's official website address and clicked on the link that took him to a list of registered gym leaders and information on them and the Pokemon they used. Using the "Print" option he printed the pages and put them in an official league folder he bought last year and brought along with him. _This will be a big help in preparing strategies and Pokemon._ He put the folder back in his backpack and went to sit down in the waiting area again.

Around 10 PM, Nurse Joy finally emerged from the side door and was about to call out Ash's name when she noticed he had fallen asleep on the bench. She smiled and shook her head and went into a backroom to bring out a blanket to cover him with. She then proceeded to shut the Pokemon Center down for the night.

**End of Chapter 2**

Well, there's chapter 2. Not the most exciting chapter I'm afraid, but thing will get better. I did say we would find out some stuff about Pikachu and the PokeDex here, but I changed my mind because I couldn't find a good spot to put that in. So hopefully, next chapter will be it.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I posted chapter 2, I am curious as to why it didn't update the story. Hm... Anyway, here's chapter 3! You can skip his shopping trip if you want, but I would advise against it.

**Chapter 3**

Ash groaned and turned over to escape the first rays of sunlight that drifted in through the Pokemon Center's doors and promply fell off of the bench. He attempted to untangle himself from the blanket that had mysteriously been placed over him sometime last night.

Finally managing to get the fluffy menace off of him, he promptly folded it up, rather poorly, and placed it on the front counter for Nurse Joy to pick up. He went over to the bench he slept on and opened up his backpack he used as his pillow last night and pulled out a sandwich. It lasted all of three seconds. _Must have been more hungry than I thought._ He then quickly finished off the water bottle, grimacing at how warm it was, before placing it back in his backpack.

A while later, Nurse Joy finally came out from the back carrying a tray with Ash's PokeBalls on it.

"Here you are Mr. Ketchum. Your Pokemon are patched up, rested, and ready to go."

"Thanks Nurse Joy! Oh and thanks for the blanket last night as well."

Ash pointed over to the blanket he had sat on the counter where it sat, looking more like a giant gumball than a perfectly folded blanket. Nurse Joy barely stopped herself from giggling at the poor folding attempt.

"You're quite welcome. I would suggest you stop at the PokeMart down the street before going through the Viridian Forest."

Ash nodded at her told her he had already planned on it as he clipped his two PokeBalls on his belt and walked out the door and waving to Nurse Joy one last time.

As he walked down the street to the PokeMart, he decided to take in his surroundings. _Wow, cities are a pretty sight in the morning sunlight. Sure is deserted though._ Snapping back to reality once he realized he was in front of the PokeMart, Ash stopped and stared at the building. _Oh man, this place is even larger than the Pokemon Center!_ Indeed it was. It was as wide as the Pokemon Center, but the building was 4 stories tall. While it certainly did not match up to the one in Celadon City, it was still a rather large for a PokeMart in a sleepy little city like Viridian.

Still staring at it, Ash finally walked in through the automatic sliding doors and stopped to look around. _Wow, this place looks like it has everything!_ The entire floor had counters in nearly every corner with various tenders selling goods displayed in glass cases. A few customers were already there, milling around and looking at the variety of items while some personel were walking around getting things ready for the heavy traffic later in the day.

Turning his head this way and that, the raven-haired trainer finally decided on stopping over at the counter selling healing items. He pulled out his wallet and counted how much money he currently had and the proverbial jaw dropped. _40,000 Yen? Where did I... Ugh, it must have been mom who put all this money in here for me. I'll have to give her a big thanks later._ He put his wallet away and went over to the medicinal counter and started browsing through the products and their prices. The clerk behind the counter patiently waited after giving a greeting to Ash.

_I better save some money, so I'll get a few things for now. I'll need to start battling soon to get some cash._ Deciding to get 6 Potions, 2 Super Potions, 4 Antidotes, and 2 Paralyze Heals, he paid for them and was 2000 Yen lighter._ It's worth it though._ Ash then walked over to the counter selling PokeBalls and gawked at the variety, though he only decided on standard types. He bought another 6 PokeBalls and a couple of Great Balls and was half tempted on an Ultra Ball, but decided against it after looking at their price. _That's highway robbery! Honestly, 2500 Yen?_ He put his new PokeBalls in a side pocket of his backpack. _Hope they sell backpacks here, I'm going to need a larger one at this rate._

Walking over to the information board, Ash noticed the second floor sold traveling gear and miscellaneous items. Quite happy with that, he practically ran up the steps to the second floor, having no patience for the elevator next to them and frankly not needing it.

Stopping at the top of the steps, Ash noticed that the second floor contained booths and stalls rather than glass counters. Slowly scanning the room looking for backpacks and sleeping bags, he suddenly spotted the booth for them near the back of the room and walked toward it. Seeing as the booth tender was not there yet, he picked out a nicely crafted dark blue hiking backpack and a warm looking dark green sleeping bag and sat them on the counter. A minute later, the booth tender arrived and he paid for his purchases then proceeded to places all his old and new items into his new backpack, including his old backpack. _If I ever run into my mom at some point, I'll give it to her to take back home. That or I'll just keep it for back-up._

After walking around and buying various items, including maps, a winter coat and gloves, some cooking utensils, a box of maches, and a camera, he stopped at a booth that was selling PokeBall decorations. Ash found a nice set of Pokemon stickers with each Pokemon known as a sticker. They were easy to remove and replace if the Pokemon ever evolved and he needed to change the sticker. He also bought a set of alphabet stickers to stick on the bottom of his PokeBalls to help him know they were his if they ever got lost. _I hope to all the heavens above that never happens._

Departing for the steps once more, Ash headed up to the third floor and noticed it was more like a restaurant/supermarket than a normal store. Ignoring his grumbling stomache for now, he went around and bought some Pokemon food and treats, some bowls for Pokemon to eat out of, a couple of books each on how to cook and prepare both human and Pokemon food, two large canteens for water or other drinking fluids for himself and his Pokemon, and of course some food for himself.

Satisfied with his purchases, he finally decided to leave the PokeMart lest he spend even more money and be totally broke. Walking across the street, he ordered a sub sandwich to eat on his way out of the city for lunch. _Geez, I was in there for hours! I feel like a girl on a shopping trip. Or worse, my mom. _Remembering his shopping trips with mom made him shudder at the memories. _Never, ever, again._

Ash reached the path that lead into the Viridian Forest just as he finished his sub and stood staring at the entrance to the forest for a bit. _The true beginning of my journey!_ He took a deep breath and walked forward, not noticing a pair of red eyes glowing from the shadows as they watched him.

The young trainer finally found a stump he could sit on after walking for 30 minutes. The path he was currently on lead into a clearing with said stump in the middle of it. _Hey, this is a pretty good place to start training! But first..._ Ash pulled out his PokeDex and flipped it open and started messing around with its options. He found two that stuck out like a sore thumb and caught his interest immediately. An Attack Scanner and an... Auto Transfer Device System. _Wow, this is awesome! I need to scan Dratini's and Pikachu's attacks. And speaking of Pikachu, I need to do something about it._ Ash noticed he had to manually activate the transfer system and wait on the corresponding professor to accept it.

Pushing a button on his PokeDex, he looked up information on the ATDS. To work it, he had to first shrink the PokeBall then place it on the small black circle below the screen. _Wow, how did I not notice that before?_ The PokeBall is then transfered to a special shelf that Professor Oak (or any professor that keeps a trainer's Pokemon for them) sets up for those trainers that use the transfer system. Pokemon on the shelf are in a state of total and complete sleeping stasis so that they do not need taken care of each and every day.

_This is going to be a huge help!_ Ash suddenly heard a beep from his PokeDex and he looked over at the screen to see that the activation was confirmed and that he now had a shelf in place for the ATDS.

"This is so awesome!" Ash exclaimed as he stood up and took Pikachu's and Dratini's PokeBalls off his belt.

"Come on out guys!"

Pikachu and Dratini suddenly appeared next to each other. Pikachu shook his head to rid of the effects of being in the PokeBall for so long and turned to look at the Pokemon next to it and gave a cry of surprise before looking at Ash incredulously as if it didn't believe that _this_ trainer caught a Dratini.

Dratini on the otherhand, appeared in a shower of sparkles and took to looking at its surroundings completely ignoring the yellow rodent next to it. Its eyes suddenly landed on Ash and Dratini slithered up to him then wrapped its entire length around Ash and nuzzled his face as a greeting.

"Ha ha, it's great to see you too Dratini. How are you feeling?"

It gave a chirp to signify it was feeling perfectly fine.

"That's great! Why don't you greet Pikachu while I get you guys some food ready?"

Dratini nodded and slid off of Ash. Ash, on the otherhand, shuddered at the strange feeling of scales rubbing against his neck. Not that it was a bad feeling of course.

The trainer then dropped his backpack on the ground, opened it up and took three Pokemon bowls from it. One was pink, one was light blue, and the other was yellow. The Pokemon food was pulled out next and he put some in each bowl and put some water in the light blue bowl. He had filled up the canteens at the PokeMart as he was leaving.

Ash looked over at his two Pokemon and smiled as he saw they were getting along quite nicely. _Maybe Dratini will help Pikachu on its trust for me._ He stood and called over to them.

"OK guys, time to eat! It's store bought food, but it's the best I can do for right now."

Placing the two food bowls on each side of the water bowl, Ash decided to sit back down on the stump and open his PokeDex and scan his Pokemon's attacks. Flipping it open, he pressed the right buttons to start the program. Pikachu was the first to be scanned.

**Scanning attacks, please wait... Attacks scanned!**

A short list of Pikachu's four attack suddenly appeared. _Thundershock, Thunder Wave, Quick Attack and Double Team huh? Not a bad moveset to start with at all._ After writing down the attacks in a notebook he brought along from home, he started the program over and pointed the PokeDex at Dratini. The same voice appeared.

**Scanning attacks, please wait... Attacks scanned!**

_Wow, this Dratini is a higher level than I thought it would be!_ There, on the screen were Dratini's attacks: Thunder Wave, Twister, Slam, and... Light Screen. _I've never heard of Light Screen before, wonder what it does?_ Ash shut the program off before going into the Attack Database of the PokeDex. _Light Screen... Light Screen... Ah, there it is. Hm, so it cuts special attack power in half huh? That will be a lifesaver._

Suddenly, Ash felt a tug on his pants and heard a small "Pika" come from below him. Looking down, he saw Pikachu looking up at him with dropped ears and sad eyes. Blinking once, Ash put away his PokeDex and picked Pikachu up; sitting it on his lap.

"What's up buddy?"

Pikachu looked down sadly avoiding looking at Ash. The trainer, suddenly knowing what was up with his starter, reached out a hand and stroked his head smiling a bit sadly.

"I forgive you Pikachu. We all have rough beginnings, but those rough times are what bring us closer together. We'll let go of the bad times and move forward, but never forgetting what brought us together as friends."

Pikachu looked at up at Ash smiling and jumped into his arms giving a happy "Chaaaaaaaa" as it rubbed its head against Ash's.

Dratini, not one to miss out on a cuddling session, joined in, wrapping its long body around both Ash and Pikachu and rubbing them both. Ash was laughing the whole time.

"Guys, I can't breathe! Ha ha!"

Their cuddle session was brought to an abrupt halt as they heard a cry on the other side of the clearing.

"Scyther!"

**End of Chapter 3.**

Hope this chapter was more enjoyable than the last one. This crap is finally starting to to get good methinks. And yes, Dratini can learn Light Screen as it is a second generation breeding move. Ah and the Scyther at the end. One of my favorite Pokemon and a Pokemon I wish Ash had captured. Well, now I get to make my dreams come true. He will be capturing a fair few of my favorites along with the Pokemon he caught in the Anime or Pokemon he should have caught if he wasn't interrupted. -.-


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Someone obviously had trouble with the interaction between Ash and Pikachu. You honestly think their relationship would be all peachy after that? Hardly. Pikachu will still have trouble trusting Ash, but he does listen to him now. He was just happy Ash forgave him is all. They still have a ways to go before Pikachu considers Ash his best friend.

Now, I see also that some people want the Pokemon to know more than 4 moves. I can put that in. League rules will state, however, that only 4 moves can be used in offical battles such as a gym battle or league battle. Pokemon will be able to learn up to 8 moves instead. Only Pokemon with trainers or used to have trainers will unlock this capability. Freshly caught or wild Pokemon will only have 4 moves to start off with. Very few trainers discover this.

Will this satisfy that itch you guys seem to have about this? Lol. Though this solution does help me in keeping Ash's opponents surprised in league battles, so thanks for helping me think of a way.

I bet a silent question you guys are asking is about Brock and Misty. No, Brock does not come along. Misty however does. My reason? Well, Brock was the mature one of the group in the Anime and helped keep Ash and Misty in check. Ash in my fic, however, is mature and intelligent enough not to need him around. He meets Misty in Cerulean City by the way so we have a ways to go before they meet.

Anywho, enough of these boring author notes!

**Chapter 4**

The trio quickly broke apart as Dratini and Pikachu jumped down in front of Ash to face this sudden threat. There, before them, stood the most ragged looking Scyther any of them had ever seen. The entire body of the mantis Pokemon was littered in battle scars. The most obvious one was running diagonal across its face from left to right. It stared them down with its gleaming, red eyes and was panting hard. The strange thing was, it was smirking; clearly looking for a fight.

Both Pikachu and Dratini were in defensive positions and growling. Sparks were flying from Pikachu's red cheek sacks. _This Scyther is obviously worn out, so why does it want to battle? Well, if it wants a battle, I'll give it a battle._

"Pikachu, fall back. Dratini, you up for your first battle?"

Dratini nodded as Pikachu slunk away from the battle field disappointed at not being able to battle.

"Sorry buddy, but this Scyther looks like a tough contender and only Dratini may be able to handle it. Don't worry, you and I will go out and catch some new Pokemon afterward, alright?"

The electric mouse simply crossed its arms and turned its head away with a small "Chu" obviously displeased. Ash shook his head and turned back to the impending battle before him. _Our first battle and it's against a pooped out Scyther. Well, it has great fighting spirit, can't complain about that. Maybe I can catch it, what an awesome addition that would make to the team._

"Alright then Scyther, you've got yourself a battle! You've got the first move."

The Scyther gave a battle cry and started flying at Dratini at a high speed. _Uh oh, that's Quick Attack. Wow, what speed!_

"Dratini, duck at the right moment and use Slam!"

Dratini did as told and waited right as Scyther was about to hit it and ducked. Scyther's look of shock was cut off as Dratini launched upwards and slammed into Scyther and the scarred mantis gave a cry of pain before righting itself a few feet away and stopped to catch its breath.

"Quick, use Thunder Wave before it gets away!"

_I have to cut its speed or we'll never hit it._ Scyther wasn't about to be hit by a paralysis move however, and jumped out of the way at the last second; just barely missing getting hit. Ash growled at that and told Dratini to try again. Scyther just dodged again and began glowing white before more Scyther suddenly appeared. _Oh no, Double Team! I have to think of something and fast._

Before Ash could think of anything though, the real Scyther and its copies started flying around at even higher speeds around Dratini trying to confuse it. _Gggggrrrr, Agility. Wait, I have an idea!_

"Dratini, use Twister and add Thunder Wave to it! Send the Twister in Scyther's path!"

Dratini snapped out of trying to watch Scyther and uncurled itself. Raising into the air, it cried out and started glowing in a faint blue color. Suddenly a vortex of swirling air appeared and started growing in size. Adding some electricity from Thunder Wave to the tornado, Dratini then threw it in the circling Scyther's path. Ash had never seen such a determined look on his dragon's face before. _Wow, Dratini is awesome!_ He was broken out of his thoughts as the Scyther got caught up in the Twister/Thunder Wave combo attack. It was crying out in pain as electricity coursed through its body while also being twisted around and around with debris hitting it.

The Scyther was eventually thrown into a tree after a few seconds and nearly breaking it in half. The mantis gave one last weak cry of "Scy" before falling to the ground unconscious. Wasting no time, Ash pulled out a PokeBall and tossed it at the knocked out Scyther. The ball rocked back and forth for some time before finally giving the ever anticipated "Ping" that all trainers wait for.

Ash was rooted to the spot for several moments just staring at the PokeBall. Behind him, Pikachu had an astonished look on its face and let out an amazed sounding "Piiiiiiii - kaaaaa" at the whole ordeal.

The trainer snapped out of it and gave a loud cheer before running over to the PokeBall and picking it up. He walked over to Dratini and knelt down in front of it holding the PokeBall in the palm of his hand.

"You just helped me catch us a new team member. I'm so proud of you Dratini!"

Dratini chirped in happiness before passing out in front of Ash. The trainer caught the little dragon's head before it hit the ground. _That battle took a lot out of Dratini it seems. Well, it was its first battle after all, so I can see why._ He sat down Scyther's PokeBall beside him and pulled out Dratini's ball and returned it.

"You rest up Dratini, then I'll give you your treat for a job well done."

Ash put the PokeBall on his belt and picked up Scyther's and walked over to his backpack and Pikachu.

"Some battle huh buddy?"

Pikachu snapped out of its daze and looked away from Ash, still mad at the trainer for not letting it battle instead. Ash was running out of patience, especially as he seemed to promise the rodent he would take him out to help him get some more Pokemon in return for not getting to battle Scyther.

"Look, would you rather accompany me on a Pokemon hunt, or would you rather me heal Scyther and take it instead?"

Pikachu looked at Ash and quickly shook its head with a "Pika pi chu!"

"That's what I thought. Let me heal Scyther first then we'll be on our way."

Pulling his backpack in front of him, Ash took out a Super Potion and a Paralyze Heal and then set his backpack aside. Picking up the PokeBall from beside him, Ash released Scyther, who was still unconscious and sat beside it on the ground. The mantis was still crackling with electricity and twitching, so Ash decided to apply the Paralyze Heal first. He sprayed the yellow liquid all over Scyther and watched as it finally started to stop twitching. Scyther cracked open its eyes a bit to look at Ash as he applied the Super Potion next. The green Pokemon cringed in pain from the stinging sensation that swept over its body, but refused to cry out otherwise. A few moments later, the pain passed and Scyther sat up, using its blades as support, and started staring at Ash; as if to judge him.

Unfazed by the staring, Ash asked how Scyther was feeling. Surprise flickered in the red orbs at the question, but Scyther answered in a positive way.

"Scy Scyther."

"That's good to hear."

Deciding to risk it, Ash stretch out a hand toward Scyther's head. The mantis watched warily, but did not move even as Ash's hand gently landed on top of its head. Taking this as a good sign, the beginner trainer slowly stroked its head and also delicately traced the large scar adorning Scyther's face. Scyther closed its eyes in contentment at the ministrations its new trainer was giving it. Never in its young life had any human done _this_ and it was enjoying every moment of it.

"You've had a rough life haven't you Scyther? So young yet so scarred."

Ash shook his head at the thought of what this obviously young Pokemon had to go through. He continued to stroke it and murmur to it for a bit before standing up.

"Well, how about I get you something to eat and then you can relax here for a bit while Pikachu and I go looking for new team members? Afterward we'll hit the sack and start training tomorrow."

At the words "food" and "training", Scyther gave a cry of excitement and raised its blades in the air. Ash just laughed and prepared a bowl of food and refilled the water bowl for his overzealous Pokemon.

"I love your enthusiasm Scyther, but you and Dratini need to rest tonight. Pikachu and any new Pokemon I catch will need some rest too. Save your excitement and energy for tomorrow."

Scyther nodded and began to chow down. Ash walked over to Pikachu and picked it up. Pikachu wasn't happy about it, but didn't complain. The trainer then turned towards Scyther and told it that they would be back in a while and to guard his backpack.

"Well, lets go get some new friends, what do you say Pikachu?"

Pikachu just ignored Ash completely.

**End of Chapter 4.**

There's chapter 4, hope you enjoyed it. We learn about the 8 move capability in the next chapter as well as getting some training in. Most of that will be cut however as it is rather boring, but the basics of how he trains will be covered so that I don't have to explain them again. Then we'll head into Pewter City as Ash goes for his first badge.

I did tell you Pikachu still doesn't like Ash and you can see that. However, you can start seeing some respect for him starting to shine through, ever so slowly. He listens, but he doesn't like him. It will be rough for the both of them for a while this way.

Oh and, could you imagine just what that combo attack looked like? To me, in my mind, I saw it as a huge swirling vortex of lightning. That combo will be used again in the future, so look out for it.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: So glad you guys liked the combo attack. There will be more where that came from. I actually wasn't going to update today to take a break, but eh...

The Pokemon will be knowing second and third generation attacks, but Ash keeps them a secret until the Indigo League or if he has a tough gym battle. He of course doesn't know what they are at first and neither does his PokeDex. These attacks will give him quite a head start in Johto and Hoenn.

Onto the story!

**Chapter 5**

Ash and Pikachu had been walking for fifteen minutes without seeing a single Pokemon. This was unusual as normally the forest was filled to the brim, figuratively speaking, with Pokemon. Bug Pokemon usually.

"Not a single Caterpie or Weedle in sight! Ugh, this is annoying!"

The trainer suddenly stopped in the middle of the path as he heard a crunching sound. He frantically looked around for the sound and his eyes finally settled on a tree to his left. Up on a limb was the biggest and strangest looking Caterpie he had ever seen eating away happily at some leaves. The leaves themself were an odd sight as well. They were a reddish brown color and in the shape of a crescent moon. When Ash quickly looked at his current surroundings, he noticed that most of the trees were in fact the same as the one with the Caterpie in it. _That's odd. Very odd._

His focus returned to the little caterpillar. Ash studied the strange coloring of it and noticed that they resembled the colors of the leaves that it was currently eating. Curiosity peaked, he picked up a fallen crescent leaf and looked at it a bit closer after setting Pikachu down (who was in his arms the entire time). Holding it close to his face, he noticed that the leaf was in fact red with black specks all over it. _Ah, that's why they look reddish brown from a distance._

His eyes once again turned to the Caterpie and this time he took note of its colors better. What was supposed to be green on the bug was instead a dark red. The underbelly, tail, and circles were a light brown and the antenna was black rather than the normal red color. The whole Pokemon was at least twice as large as a normal Caterpie. _No way am I gonna pass this up!_

Bending down, Ash whispered into Pikachu's ear to use a Thundershock on it, but quietly. He didn't want it to get away from him. Perking up at finally being able to attack something, Pikachu let loose a silent, but powerful Thundershock onto the unsuspecting creature. It gave a cry of pain and toppled out of the tree and onto the path below. Ash winced at its fall, but took no time in throwing a PokeBall at it. After a few wiggles, the ball gave a "Ping" and Ash went over to pick it up. He stroked Pikachu's head and it gave a "chaaaaaaaa" of contentment at the feeling.

"Great job Pikachu! Now, let's see what species these trees are."

Ash pulled out his PokeDex and opened it. After pushing a few buttons, he pointed the device at the trees.

**Blood Moon Tree. These trees are named after the color and shape of their leaves. Very few Pokemon are able to stomach let alone digest the leaves of this tree. Most prefer to keep away from these trees to avoid the temptation of eating from them. These trees can be found in most forests scattered across Kanto and are in fact a great herbal remedy for humans against skin ailments.**

"Well, that was rather informative. Doesn't mention what happens to Pokemon who can eat these things though. I guess this Caterpie answers that question. Alright then, come on out Caterpie!"

Ash threw the PokeBall and his newly caught Caterpie appeared. While it was still shaking a bit with a few burns after that shock and fall, it looked alright otherwise. _Hm, I wonder..._ Walking over to a Blood Moon tree, he pulled a leaf off of it and walked back over to Caterpie. Kneeling down to one knee, he offered the leaf to the caterpillar and watched as it happily ate it without reservation. The shaking suddenly stopped and the burns slowly started fading. _Holy cow, no way! I am going to have to pocket several of these leaves for later! It's a shame most Pokemon can't eat these leaves directly. Perhaps I could mash them up and mix it in with their food instead? This Caterpie must have been eating from these trees for a long time to look like this._ Ash stretched out his arm and told Caterpie to climb on with a small smile.

Looking at his arm and then his face then at Pikachu, who just shrugged and nodded, Caterpie finally crawled up Ash's arm and draped itself around his neck like a scarf. Well, it was larger than normal after all. The bug then rubbed its face against Ash's cheek. The trainer ran his hand over its head, careful to avoid the sensitive antenna. _Professor Oak is going to go ballistic when he sees this Pokemon. Dratini too when he finally gets to see it. That however won't be happening for some time._

"It's great to meet you too Caterpie! Pikachu and I welcome you to the team, don't we buddy?"

Pikachu gave a dull greeting to Caterpie. It in turn looked looked at Ash with a question on its face.

"Oh don't mind Pikachu's attitude. Besides, we have two other friends who will want to meet you. One's back at camp. At any rate, let's get going and capture some more Pokemon!"

Caterpie gave a cry of agreement and refused to move from its position on Ash's shoulder. Pikachu glared at it, possibly for liking Ash so soon like this, but nodded nonetheless. Ash just sighed and clipped Caterpie's unoccupied PokeBall to his belt and walked over to a Blood Moon tree and gathered some, much to the delight to the happily perched caterpillar, leaves and stuffed them in the pockets of his jacket and pants. _I'll have to put these in a jar or something later._

Thirty minutes later, Ash and Pokemon walked back into the clearing after managing to capture a Weedle and, to the trainer's delight, a Pidgeotto. Ash noticed that Scyther had fallen asleep against his backpack and had to, regrettably, wake it up so he could get into it. Scyther grumbled a bit, but otherwise moved out of the way and leaned against the stump instead and falling back asleep.

Ash picked Caterpie off his shoulders and set it on the ground before sitting on the stump and opening his backpack. He stuck his hand in blindly and felt around, eventually touching glass and pulling out a medium sized jar. He saw that Pikachu was looking at it quizzically.

"Mom packed it for me. Said I may need it at some point. Heh, guess she was right."

Twisting the lid off, he pulled the leaves out of his pockets and put them in the jar before putting the lid back on. The jar was then put back in the backpack and Ash pulled out the sticker sets he bought back in Viridian City and a few other items and started to set up camp.

Fifteen minutes later and camp was set up with a roaring fire going. The sun was starting to set after all. Ash released his other Pokemon and fed them while he started to fix a simple dinner for himself over the fire with his new cooking utensils.

After dinner, everything was put away, except his stickers, and Ash got ready for bed. Slipping into his sleeping bag, his Pokemon (other than Pikachu and Scyther, since Scyther was already asleep and Pikachu went to sleep in a nearby tree) gathered around him and fell sleep watching Ash put the stickers on their PokeBalls. Setting the rest of the stickers aside, the trainer snuggled into his sleeping bag and swiftly fell into dreamland.

Dawn broke over the forest and the sounds of many Pokemon penetrated the ears of Ash and he slowly woke up, groaning.

"Darn, noisy Pokemon. Haven't they ever heard of a decent hour to wake up at?"

He tried to sit up, but found that he couldn't. His Pokemon, aside from Pikachu of course, had decided to smother him during the night at some point. Dratini was curled up on his chest, Scyther (who must have woke up at some point last night) had its head up against Ash's side using him and the sleeping bag as a pillow, and Caterpie had crawled its way into his bag and was curled up into his right arm. Weedle, thankfully, was sprawled across his legs on the outside of the bag and Pidgeotto was using his head as a pillow.

"Um, guys, while I like the night time cuddle session that apparently happened, could you get up now? I kind of have to pee. Guys? Heeeelllllllooooooo?"

Getting no response, Ash finally resorted to shouting.

"GUYS WAKE UP NOW!"

Startled out of their sleep, his Pokemon all flung themselves away from their trainer. Pikachu, who was sleeping in a nearby tree fell out of it and crashed to the ground with a painful "Piiiiiiiiiii".

Taking advantage of their sudden confusion, Ash jumped out of his sleeping bag and ran into the forest to relieve himself. After a couple of minutes, he came back and looked at his disgruntled Pokemon and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Sorry guys, but I really had to go, heh heh..."

Pikachu growled at him in anger for waking it from its beauty sleep but didn't do much else.

After a quick breakfast with the promised treats and a few morning stretches, Ash asked his Pokemon to line up in front of him so that he could scan the newer ones before they began training. Caterpie and Weedle had the typical attacks they start with - Tackle and String Shot for Caterpie and Poison Sting and String Shot for Weedle. They wouldn't learn more until they evolved. Pidgeotto had Gust, Sand-Attack, Quick Attack, and Wing Attack. _Not a bad line-up for Pidgeotto there._ Scyther moveset however, is what made his jaw drop. It wasn't the attacks, but the amount of attacks it had. Scyther had six attacks it could do! Quick Attack, Double Team, Agility, Wing Attack, some unknown move, and Slash. Ash quickly consulted his PokeDex to see if it had an answer. Finally his answer popped up on the screen.

**The eight move capability is something few trainers discover. Trained Pokemon unlock this ability shortly after being captured whereas wild Pokemon can only ever learn four moves. While in an unoffical battle where you may use all eight moves, official league battles only allow up to four moves to be used per Pokemon per battle. We congratulate you on your find!**

_I can't believe it! This is going to be awesome. Wait a minute, if Scyther knows six moves, then that must mean it had a previous trainer! Well, if it wants to tell me about it, it will. I'm not going to worry about it otherwise._

"Well guys, let's get training! I think we'll work on endurance training first. No sense in throwing you out into battle if you can't take hits. We'll start with Pidgeotto, Caterpie, and Weedle. The rest of you start improving your attack power for now by continuously using your attacks. Have scrimmage battles if you want to. If you learn any new attacks, let me know! We will be in here for a good couple of weeks so prepare for some intense training."

Ash motioned for the three he pointed out to follow him him to the other side of the clearing and had Weedle and Caterpie stand next to each other. He told Pidgeotto to take to the air. The bugs looked nervous, and for good reason - Pidgeotto had a rather gleeful look on its face.

"OK, Pidgeotto, I want you to hit Weedle and Caterpie with everything you've got! The both of you are going to do your best at taking these attacks. This will eventually build up your endurance. If you manage to evolve into your final forms in the next 3 days or so, then we'll take the training up a notch."

The two bug Pokemon were sweating up a storm at the prospect at getting hit multiple times by a psychotic looking bird (it looked that way to them), but stars then appeared in their eyes at the mention of evolving into Butterfree and Beedrill. The stars quickly disappeared as Ash ordered Pidgeotto to start attacking them.

The bird gave a war cry and dived for the two Pokemon that would be its prey in the wild. It used Quick Attack to speed up and went in for Caterpie first. The little caterpillar raised up to try and lessen the blow, but it went flying anyway. Pidgeotto did a 360 turn and charged up a Wing Attack for Weedle. Ash winced when he saw this. _That's gonna hurt it a lot._

The hairy bug was sent careening into a tree with a cry of "Weedle!" Pidgeotto wasn't finished though as it turned back to Caterpie and got behind it, sending a Gust at it to send it in the direction of Weedle. Having them both together, Pidgeotto unleashed a Sand-Attack by flapping its wings at a rapid rate near the ground.

"OK Pidgeotto, stop for a bit please."

Pidgeotto didn't want to stop since it was having so much fun, but it did as it was told. Reluctantly.

Ash ran over to the bugs and saw them trying to get up.

"No guys, lay there and rest up a bit alright? This is the first day of training, no need to push yourselves."

Weedle did just that and curled up into a ball to sleep for a bit. Caterpie however, refused and got up, panting hard and glaring at the smirking bird. It suddenly gave a cry towards the heavens and started glowing.

"No way, this early?"

The glowing stopped and in Caterpie's place lay Metapod, a red Metapod. This one was also much larger than normal ones, just like the Caterpie it evolved from.

"Awesome, so the colors transfer over to evolved forms. I can't wait to see what Butterfree will look like!"

Ash picked up the large Metapod, struggling to do so, and sat it down near the sleeping Weedle. He then turn to look at Pidgeotto, who had an amazed look on its face as it stared at the newly evolved Metapod.

"Hey Pidgeotto, while these two are resting, why don't you join the other three since you seem to be itching for a fight?"

Looking at the other three Pokemon on the other side of the clearing and seeing Pikachu caught up in Dratini's Twister attack and obviously panicking, it decided to do just that and flew over to Scyther, asking for a fight.

Ash sat down in the grass Indian style and wiped his forehead free of sweat. It was a rather warm day. Deciding that if his Pokemon were going to get in shape, he might as well get in shape too, Ash stripped down to his boxers and started doing some push-ups. After five of them, he collapsed face first into the grass and groaned. He was highly out of shape.

"This is gonna be a long two weeks..."

**End of chapter 5**

Longest chapter yet! Hope you enjoyed it! And no, Caterpie isn't shiny. Think of it as a flamingo and what it eats. It goes from white to pink the more it eats the crustaceans that provide it its main diet. Same factor here basically.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: If you want to know the genders of the Pokemon, drop me a message. Otherwise you can figure it out from their actions and personalities in the story. Some intentional, some not. XD

Anyway, two battles happen in this chapter. We finally get some trainer battle action!

**Chapter 6**

It indeed had been a long two weeks of training as Ash had predicted. As he stood on the short path that would lead him to Pewter City with Pikachu on his right shoulder, the trainer reflected that it had been worth it. The experience had brought them all together even closer and while he and Pikachu weren't best friends yet (like he wants to be), they were well on that path.

Every day they would wake up at the crack of dawn, have breakfast and start training. They only stopped for bathroom and food breaks. Every evening, the Pokemon and Ash would go to a nearby stream and bathe. While it wasn't as good as a hot shower, it was better than nothing.

Each day Ash's team were trained in increasing their endurance in taking hits, speed to maximize attack dodging and utilization, and attack power. The most fun thing they all liked doing was running and/or flying through the forest dodging trees and other obstacles. Metapod, and eventually Kakuna, of course couldn't do this part of the training yet, but they soon rectified their situation.

Metapod, it seemed, didn't want to be grounded for too long and had evolved within a day into the largest and most beautiful, yet strangest, Butterfree Ash had ever laid eyes on. It was easily as large as a Beedrill, if not a tad larger. The wings practically towered over Ash's head when Butterfree stood next to him. The trainer had expected Butterfree to be bigger than normal, but not _this_ big.

Weedle, Ash saw, was obviously jealous that its previously grounded buddy had evolved so quickly. It only took four days for Weedle to finally evolve into Beedrill.

Ash wasn't slouching around while his Pokemon trained though. He had trained his own body right alongside his Pokemon. It was rough at first since he wasn't used to the physical exercise, but he eventually started adjusting to it. The raven-haired trainer didn't just stop at physical exercise, he was also experimenting with the Blood Moon leaves with his Pokemon.

The first time he tried them with his Pokemon, he simply crushed some up and sprinkled the crumbs over his Pokemon's food. This of course resulted in many upset stomachs and the regurgitation of their food. He never tried that method again. Many failed attempts led Ash to boiling the leaves in water. This simple method seemed to do the trick surprisingly. He had rolled Pokemon food up in the leaves and had them eat it that way. They were of course wary of the leaves after all the failed attempts, but still ate them. When they were finally capable of eating them without getting sick, (barring of course Butterfree who could eat them without any problem beforehand), the Pokemon had let out a cheer. Boiling the leaves apparently removed the toxins in them that made almost all Pokemon ill from them, but the healing aspects of them remained. Ash of course still fed them unboiled to Butterfree. Now all he had to work on was trying to come up with his own Pokemon food recipes. For a guy that never had to cook for himself in all his 10 years of life, that was not going to be an easy job.

The young trainer had also spent the entire two weeks devising a plan against Brock, the Pewter City gym leader. He knew he was at a huge disadvantage without any Grass, Water, Ground, Ice, or Fighting Pokemon to go up against the leader's Onix and Geodude. He figured he would have to use Butterfree and Dratini as they were the only ones with attacks that could deal with the two Rock/Ground type Pokemon. He had come up with plans for the both of them. His first plan involved Dratini learning Flamethrower and Icebeam. Icebeam was mastered fairly quickly as the attack was formed from the dragon's head jewel. Flamethrower, however, took a lot longer as the attack had to come from within the body. Dratinis normally had cool body temperatures, so a hot Fire type attack like that was understandably hard to learn. Even it was mastered though and Ash would worry about strengthening it at a later date. All that it was needed for at this point was for his plan.

Each night before bed, he would take one of his Pokemon aside to learn more about them and to bond with each one individually. The trainer would open up to them, and they in turn would open up to him about life, their thoughts, etc. Pikachu had undoubtably been the hardest to get to open up, but even it finally did so after a while. Ash knew that while having your Pokemon strong was a good thing, having a strong bond with each and every single one was an even better thing. A trainer without a bond with their Pokemon friends was doomed to failure.

_Yep, that sure was a productive two weeks, but I sure can't wait to have a nice, long, hot shower at the Pokemon Center!_ Ash had barely taken two steps towards the city before a voice called out to him from behind and he felt the tip of a sword at the back of his neck.

"Halt! I challenge you, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, to a Pokemon battle!"

Ash nearly cried when he heard this. _So close, SO CLOSE! But I can't refuse his challenge, that would be rude. Ugh, so unfair. If it wasn't against my morals, I would turn around and punch this guy in the face for ruining my soon to be shower. Wait a minute... How does this guy know my name anyway?_ Ash slowly turned around to notice the sword was now pointing at his face. He ignored it and studied the person before him that _dared_ to stand between him and his shower. _What is this, ancient Japan or something? This guy is all decked out in samurai gear. _He sat Pikachu down on the ground and addressed the guy.

"Very well, I accept your challenge on the condition that you answer my question: How do you know my name and hometown?"

The samurai kid, as Ash had dubbed him in his head, told him that he kept updated on all the new trainers from Pallet Town and waited in the forest to battle them to test their strength when they passed through.

"You however, Ash Ketchum, took a long time to get through the forest, so I decided to wait here at the exit for you. It is plainly obvious who will win this battle of ours."

Ash was thouroughly annoyed at this point.

"I was training in the forest for your information! Alright, let's get this battle underway. Is a one on one good?"

The samurai kid nodded and sent out his Pinsir to start the battle. _Pinsir huh. Scyther should be able to handle that thing no sweat._

"Scyther, I choose you!"

Scyther came out with a cry of its name, aggravated to have to battle so soon after the long training it had to endure. If looks could kill, the Pinsir and its trainer would have been dead ten times over with the glare Scyther had given them. The samurai kid seemed unfazed.

"I shall move first. Pinsir, Vicegrip attack!"

Pinsir started charging at Scyther head first with its vices open. Ash simply rolled his eyes._ A direct attack? How predictable can you get?_

"Scyther, send it flying with a Slash attack and end this please."

The mantis complied and waited until Pinsir got close enough within its blade range. Once it got close enough, Scyther raised its right blade, which was glowing white, and swiped at the Pinsir and sent it flying through the air. It eventually landed and rolled a few feet before stopping, clearly knocked out cold._ That was pathetically easy._ Ash recalled Scyther, let Pikachu jump back on his shoulder then walked over to the dumbstruck samurai wannabe and collected his winnings. Ash then quickly turned around and headed towards Pewter City before the kid could form a response.

Thirty minutes later, Ash walked through the doors of the Pokemon Center. He booked a room for the night, handed over his Pokemon to the Nurse Joy (Pikachu decided to follow Ash to the room), and walked down the hallway to his room number. Unlocking the door quickly, Ash ran to the bathroom to have his long awaited shower. He spent fifteen minutes scrubbing himself clean and another fifteen minutes just standing under the spray enjoying the hot water. Eventually he got out and flopped onto the bed with a groan of content and fell asleep quickly wearing only his boxers. The rest of his clothes had to be taken to the laundromat tomorrow before he had his gym match. He had pat himself on the back for remembering to save one clean outfit to wear for his day out tomorrow.

Morning came quicker than Ash would have liked. He rolled over in his bed and almost crushed Pikachu - who was laying beside him. The mouse didn't want to be awoken this early so soon after two weeks of getting up at the crack of dawn and decided to show Ash its displeasure. After jumping out of the way of course.

"PiiiiiikaaaaaaaCHUUUUUUUUUU!"

Ash yelled out in pain and fell off the bed onto the floor, twitching. Pikachu looked pleased at its revenge on the trainer. It yawned and curled up to go back to sleep.

"Well... That was one heck of a... Wake up call..."

He stood up shakily and leaned on the bed, glaring at the yellow mouse for a few seconds before walking to the bathroom. With his morning shower out of the way, he walked out into the Center lobby leaving Pikachu to sleep in the room. Ash had left some food and water for it before leaving the room of course.

Collecting his Pokemon from Nurse Joy, he told her that Pikachu was still in the room and that he would be staying for one more night. The trainer left the Pokemon Center and was about to look around for a laundromat until his stomach protested at a lack of food. Grabbing his stomach, he decided to change his plans._ Guess I should get some breakfast first. Hope there is a diner open this early._

As luck would have it, there _was_ a diner open this early. It was right across the street from the laundromat too! Ash stepped into the diner and ordered a huge breakfast. He hadn't eaten anything decent for some time after all. He devoured his breakfast when it arrived, payed the bill and left.

Entering the laundromat, Ash noticed the place was shrugged as he put his dirty laundry in a washer and went to sit on a bench. He stopped just before he sat down when he noticed a video phone at the back of the building. _I should give Professor Oak a call. Hope he picks up this time._ He walked to the payphone and dialed Oak's number after he sat down.

This time, Professor Oak picked up, though he was looking mighty ticked at being phoned this early in the morning.

"Whoever this is you better - Oh... Ash! It's you. While I am glad to see you m'boy, couldn't you have phoned a _little_ later in the day?"

Ash chuckled as he saw his idol disgruntled at being woken up this early.

"Sorry Professor Oak. I tried to call you back in Viridian City in the evening a couple of weeks ago, but you didn't pick up. I figured I would try calling you earlier this time."

He saw Professor Oak trying to straighten his bed head and had to hold back from laughing out loud at this.

"Ah I see. Well no wor- Did you say two weeks? My word, what were you doing in Viridian Forest for so long? I am assuming you are calling from Pewter City, yes?"

It was obvious Professor Oak was worried about him. To Ash anyway.

"Yeah, I am in Pewter City. I'm calling from a laundromat in fact. But to answer your first question, I was training. Oh! The reason I called was to show you this Caterpie that I caught. Well, it's a Butterfree now, but nothing about it changed really other than shape and size."

Ash stood up and moved the chair out of the way. Oak was confused at this, but didn't say anything as he watched the trainer enlarge a PokeBall and call out the Pokemon within it. In seconds his curiosity waned to absolute shock and amazement. He had _never_ seen a Butterfree like this in all his time and research.

"Ash! How...? Where...?"

"I caught it as a Caterpie in Viridian Forest. First day in too. It was eating Blood Moon leaves raw."

Professor Oak had to struggle to contain his excitement at seeing this marvel of nature in the Pokemon world.

"Ash, would it be possible for me to study your Butterfree for a while?"

Said trainer knew that his older friend would ask this question and had a reply ready.

"Sorry Professor, but I need Butterfree for my gym match today. Not only that, but I activated the ATDS and I would prefer not to deactivate it right now. However, if you want to meet me somewhere later on, I will let you study Butterfree then. Of course that depends entirely on Butterfree."

Ash and Professor Oak both looked at Butterfree awaiting its answer. Butterfree nodded after a few seconds and gave a cry of "Freeeeeee Freeeee". The professor was positively jumping for joy.

"So, when and where would you like to meet, Professor?"

"Hmmm... You are heading to Cerulean City after this, are you not? Give me a call when you get there and I'll have an answer for you then."

"That's fine. See you then, Professor Oak. Bye!"

After he hung up, Ash recalled Butterfree and went to finish his laundry.

An hour later and the young trainer was now standing in front of the Pewter City gym. He stood there staring at it for some time with a blank mind. Finally, Ash took a deep breath and pushed open the doors of the gym and was greeted by darkness.

"Hello? I'm Ash Ketchum and I have come to challenge the leader for a Boulder Badge!"

Suddenly, the lights flickered on and a figure rose from his sitting position on the other side of the gym. He walked forward a bit before stopping and addressing Ash.

"I am Brock, this city's gym leader and I accept your challenge!"

Brock snapped his fingers and Ash had to stagger backwards as a rock field rose from the floor as the plain one split in half. Brock addressed Ash again.

"This battle will be a 2 on 2 battle. Does the challenger accept?"

"I accept."

"Good. Then let the battle begin!"

Brock threw a PokeBall out onto the field and out came an Onix. It gave a roar as it spotted Ash and eagerly awaited to see its opponent.

_Ugh, he had to send out Onix first didn't he? Oh well._ Ash pulled out a PokeBall.

"I choose you, Dratini!"

Dratini appeared in a shower of sparkles and it gave a battle cry. Across the field, Ash could see that Brock was flabbergasted as the sight of Dratini._ I knew he would be._

"Dratini, go with plan number one!"

Dratini gave another cry as it started to use Icebeam on the field before it. After a large patch was frozen, the dragon quickly switched to Flamethrower and melted the ice. Soon the patch was nothing but mud. Dratini suddenly rose up and started glowing blue, forming a Twister out of the muddy patch of field.

Brock finally snapped out of his shock when he saw Dratini forming its Twister.

"Onix, dig!"

Ash growled under his breath._ If only he had stayed shocked for a few seconds longer. Now I'll have to let Dratini get hit for this to work._

"Dratini, keep that Twister as close to you as possible!"

The little pink dragon knew what that order meant: It had to get hit for the plan to work now. It focused its attention back on the Twister and brought it closer and waited. A few second later Onix came out of the ground underneath it and sent Dratini flying in the air with a cry of pain. The attack had the desired effect though. The Twister broke apart and splashed Onix with mud, making it cry out a bit in pain.

"Onix, try and bind it, hurry!"

Brock was obviously getting nervous when he saw his evasion and attack method backfired.

Onix recovered and moved toward Dratini, who was now back on the ground and sitting up. Seeing Onix coming for it, Dratini stood its ground and let Onix bind it in its coils. Dratini grit its teeth from the pain, but held on nonetheless.

"It's over for this round Ash."

Ash laughed at that statement. Brock was now confused as to why the raven haired trainer was laughing at him.

"Not quite Brock. Dratini, finish this with Thunder Wave!"

"Have you lost your mind Ash, electric attacks don't affect Onix!"

Ash just shook his head and told the gym leader to watch. Brock returned his attention to the battle and felt his jaw drop. His Onix started roaring in pain as Dratini unleashed its Thunder Wave. A few moments later and Onix fell to the ground, shaking the whole room in the process, unconscious. Dratini rolled away and sat up, albeit slowly, and panting. Brock simply couldn't believe it.

"But... How...?"

"It's simple. I had Dratini create mud to cover Onix in as a sort of conductor. Mud is nothing but dirt mixed with water. Despite Onix normally being immune to electric attacks, being covered in a conductor allows electricity to flow through its body as if it weren't even part Ground."

Brock was thoroughly impressed.

"I'm impressed Ash. Most trainers just come in here with Grass or Water types to challenge me using head on attacks. You however used a strategy that totally had me stumped! But enough with this, we still have a gym match to finish. Onix, return! Geodude, it's your time to shine!"

Brock threw out another PokeBall and his Geodude emerged from it. _Dratini was weakened from the first battle, I better send out Butterfree now._

"Dratini, return. Butterfree, you're up!"

Brock, for the second time that day, was gobsmacked at his opponent's Pokemon. This was no ordinary Butterfree that he sometimes had to fight, no, this one was very unusual. It was huge in comparison to a normal one. The colors were what caught his attention though. The main body was a deep ruby red and the feet, hands, mouth, and eyes were black. The wings stood out the most in Brock's eyes however. Instead of the prominant white color like most, they, too, were black and the normal black parts of the wings were instead a brown color. In otherwords, it was gorgeous.

"I'll let you move first Brock."

Brock nearly fell over when he heard Ash's voice. He was so absorbed in looking at the Butterfree he had forgotten he was in a Pokemon battle.

"Huh? Oh, right. Geodude, use Rock Throw! Then go for a Rollout attack!"

Geodude complied and started chucking rocks at Butterfree. The butterfly dodged them effortlessly but was hit by the Rollout attack. It barely felt it though.

_He obviously doesn't use his Geodude much in battle, it's not as well trained as his Onix is._

"Butterfree, use Confusion to hold it in place then use Gust to send a Poisonpowder at Geodude!"

Butterfree had a bit of trouble locking on with Confusion since Geodude was still rolling around, but it eventually did and the rock with arms eventually stopped. It started getting panicky when it was lifted from the ground and held in place.

"Geodude, no! Try to break free!"

It was no use however, Butterfree had already sent the second part of its order at it. The poison slowly started weedling down Geodude's strength and it collapsed to the ground. After a few seconds, the rock Pokemon finally passed out from the poison damage.

Ash had done it, he had won his first gym badge.

**End of Chapter 6**

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I took my time typing it up.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Well, it seems most of you want Brock to join only for a little while. That is perfectly doable. However, I will need some ideas on where to drop him, so you may either send me a PM with an idea or leave one in a review. I will be using the idea I like the best, or I may just make another poll for the ideas. We'll see.

I also apologize for the lack of this chapter on Sunday (when I typed it). My internet was shut down for a couple of days.

**Chapter 7**

"Alright you two, time for a picture! Butterfree, hold the badge. Just like that, good! Dratini, curl most of your body in front of Butterfree, then go up underneath and rest your head on Butterfree's head. Perfect! Now, take the tip of your tail and hold the badge from underneath. OK, now... One... Two... Three!"

_**CLICK**_

"You can drop the pose now you two. The both of you made me proud of the way you battled today. Oh, thanks Butterfree!"

Butterfree had flown over to Ash and handed him back the Boulder Badge it was holding. He clipped it to the inside of his jacket and returned both of his Pokemon after giving them a treat and headed back to the Pokemon Center.

Ash had decided to break in that digital camera he bought back in Viridian City. After every gym battle, he was going to have the Pokemon he battled with pose with the badge in front of the gym for a picture. This way he could document his accomplishments during his journey.

As he was walking along the road that would take him to the Pokemon Center, Ash spotted the Pewter City Museum and it caught his attention immediately. _Hmmmm, I'll come back after I pick up Pikachu. I'm sure the little guy wouldn't want to miss out on seeing a museum._ With that thought, the trainer walked on, only stopping to stock up on supplies in the PokeMart (and also buying some fishing gear that he couldn't resist).

Ash walked into the Pokemon Center and handed off Butterfree and Dratini to Nurse Joy to be healed before heading to his room to pick up the electric rodent.

Unlocking the door, the trainer heard the distinct sounds of the television going. Groaning, Ash walked in and saw Pikachu sitting at the end of the bed watching some romance movie. He walked over to the TV and turned it off.

"Pika! Pikachu Pi Pi ka chu Pika, Pika Pi!"

Pikachu was quite ticked off about its movie being shut off.

"I don't care if you were watching that. I came to to pick you up so we could go visit the museum I passed by. I thought you might like to see it. But... If you'd rather sit in here on your butt all day watching TV, be my guest."

Ash stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans and started slowly walking out the door, whistling. _Three... Two... One..._

"Pika Pi!"

He suddenly felt a weight on his right shoulder and turned his head to look at Pikachu. The mouse had a pleading look on its face. He laughed and pet it on the head.

"Thought you would change your mind. Alright, lets go!"

One of the things Ash learned about Pikachu during one of their night time chats in the forest was that the yellow mouse loved to visit human recreational places. That included museums. It loved them so much that the rodent often snuck into some of the buildings just to look at the exhibits. This was months before Professor Oak captured it.

Walking into the museum, Ash paid for his ticket then sat Pikachu on the floor and telling it to have some fun looking around. Giving an excited "Pika!", it tore off for the ancient artifacts exhibit first. Shaking his head at his Pokemon's antics, Ash walked off in the opposite direction toward the museum's fossil collection. The trainer had always been fascinated by fossils.

He looked at many of the fossils of current species of Pokemon before stumbling upon the extinct Pokemon fossils. There was quite the collection of Omanyte, Omastar, Kabuto, Kabutops, and Aerodactyl fossils. They all ranged from egg fossils to elderly adults who had died from old age. Ash had taken out his camera and taken several pictures of them.

"Man, what I wouldn't give to have a Kabutops or an Aerodactyl!"

"I may be able to help you out there young man."

Ash was so startled by the deep voice that he nearly dropped his camera on the stone floor. He quickly put it away away in one of the side pockets of his backpack and turned around to see who spoke to him.

It was an older man who was bald, probably in his late 60s Ash figured, with a white beard and mustache. His facial hair was stubby however. The guy stood at around 5' 9". He stood looking at Ash with an amused look on his face and with his hands clapsed behind his back.

"You startled me mister!"

The guy raised one eyebrow and smiled.

"I noticed."

Ash huffed and crossed his arms and glared at the older man. The guy laughed outright at the trainer's indignant face. He calmed down quickly and repeated what he said earlier.

"Like I said earlier, I may be able to help you out."

"How? And not to be rude, but who are you exactly?"

"Ah, pardon my manners young one," Ash glared at the "young one" comment, "my name is Ronald Frank, Dr. Ronald Frank. You may call me Dr. Frank. I am the curator of this museum."

Ash looked sheepish when Dr. Frank mentioned he was the curator.

"To answer your first question, follow me into my office. I have a couple of items I wish to give you."

Dr. Frank turned on his heel and started walking away. Making a split second decision, Ash ran and caught up with him, following behind him. A few minutes of walking and they were in front of Dr. Frank's office. He pulled out a key and unlocked the door then turned on the lights.

"Well, go on in and have a seat while I go and get those items for you."

He let Ash pass him and the trainer took a seat in the chair in front Dr. Frank's desk. The older man walked over to a side door and went out of it, leaving Ash alone. He took this time to look around the office. Behind Dr. Frank's chair was a large bookshelf containing books and a few artifacts. The rest of the office was that - artifacts. They were everywhere! Most of them were contained in a glass showcase while the rest were sitting on shelves.

Five minutes later, Dr. Frank walked back in from the side door with three items in his hand. _Three? I thought he said he was going to get two items?_ The man sat down in his chair and put the three items on the desk in front of him in a horizontal line.

"Sorry I took so long, I was debating on whether to give you this other fossil."

"_Fossil?_"

"Yes, fossil, well, more like fossils. This one is the one I debated on." He pointed to the fossil with a spiral shape. "This is the Helix Fossil. It used to be an Omanyte. A young one in fact. This one here," This time he pointed to the dome shaped fossil, "is the Dome Fossil. This one was also a young Pokemon, but a Kabuto." He pushed the two of them toward Ash, who picked them hesitantly and studied them. The fossils were no larger than his hand. Dr. Frank finally pointed to the last item.

"This one is amber, Old Amber, and it contains the DNA of an Aerodactyl. We're unsure of the age of the Pokemon, but we're guessing it was a young adult."

Ash was dumbfounded at being given these fossils, but he was confused as to why he was.

"Um, not that I'm not grateful at being given these, but what use would I have out of them?"

Dr. Frank looked delighted at the question.

"Ah, I was waiting on you to ask that! There's a research facility on Cinnebar Island that is south of Pallet Town, that I would like you to visit. I have a feeling you will be visiting the island to get a badge in the future, so I have no fear of you not getting there. I would like you to visit the research lab and have them look at the fossils. The lab has been working on a resurrection machine to bring back extinct Pokemon. If they are successful with these fossils, you may keep the Pokemon as your own. I, however, would like to have a look at them if they are resurrected, so I ask you to come back to Pewter City afterwards. Are you up for it? I myself would go, but I have to look after the museum."

Ash, at this point, had his mouth dropped open staring at Dr. Frank. He brought himself back to reality at the question he was asked.

"Heck yeah I am up for it! You can count on me sir! Oh and thanks a lot for letting me keeping the Pokemon if the machine works. I'll be sure to stop back here afterwards."

The young trainer carefully packed the fossils in a compartment inside his backpack. He stood up, shook Dr. Frank's hand vigorously and turned around to leave but was stopped by a question.

"By the way young man, I never got your name."

Ash turned back around giving a cocky smile (he was, after all, excited).

"The name's Ash, Ash Ketchum. Pokemon Master in training!"

Dr. Frank gave a hearty laugh as Ash left the office.

After a few more hours of looking around, Ash collected Pikachu (who was on the second floor looking around in the space exhibit) and left to head back to the Pokemon Center. By this time the sun was starting to set. Checking back in, he headed back to the room and took a shower. Afterward, he settled on the bed and turned on the TV to watch a movie with Pikachu. The both of them fell asleep in the middle of it.

Ash woke to the sounds of the news playing on the TV. Blindly, he felt around for the remote and accidentally knocked it off the night stand he put it on last night. Cursing under his breath, he sat up and blearily opened his eyes before leaning over the bed and picked it back up. He shut the TV off and flopped back on to his pillow. Fifteen minutes of tossing and turning made Ash realize he wasn't getting back to sleep any time soon. Growling, he got up and stumbled his way to the bathroom for a shower.

One shower later and the trainer was feeling more awake. He walked back into the room and woke Pikachu, allowed it to jump on his shoulder, and walked out into the lobby of the Pokemon Center. He handed over the key to his room to Nurse Joy, said his thanks and goodbyes, then left.

Ash stepped out on the route that would lead to him to Mount Moon and stretched.

"Well Pikachu, let's head to Cerulean City for our second badge!"

"Piiiiiiika!"

He was walking for at least fifteen minutes when he saw a Pokemon on the side of the road rooting around in the grass looking for food. He identified it quickly when he saw the brick-like pattern along its back. He whispered to Pikachu.

"Hey look, a Sandshrew! Let's catch it! We'll need a Ground type for later."

Pikachu nodded and Ash sent out Pidgeotto.

"Go, Pidgeotto!"

The bird came out with a cry of "Pidgeo".

"Pidgeotto, use Quick Attack on that Sandshrew!"

Pidgeotto was a blur in the air as it streaked toward the Sandshrew. It hit its target and sent the Pokemon in the air and it cried out in pain.

"Alright, now use Wing Attack! Hit it toward the ground!"

The Sandshrew had no time to fight back, especially in the air, as Pidgeotto flew at it from above with glowing wings. It was hit in the middle of the stomach and was sent hurdling at the ground at a high speed. A loud BOOM was heard and the sound sent flocks of startled Pidgey flying from the surrounding trees. _Ooooooo, that had to hurt! _Dust was also flying everywhere from the landing.

After the dust settled, Ash could see that Sandshrew laying in a shallow crater. It wasn't moving at all.

"PokeBall, go!"

He threw the PokeBall at the knocked out Pokemon and it was sucked in. The ball only shook once before the "Ping" was heard.

Ash walked over to the PokeBall and picked it up. He jumped a bit when the ball suddenly shrunk on its own and the button glowed red.

"Huh, must be because I have six Pokemon already. Time to break in the ATDS!"

Opening up the PokeDex, he started up the ATDS. He took off Beedrill's PokeBall from his belt and placed it on the black dot below the screen. A green light surrounded the ball before it disappeared. Pulling out Sandshrew's PokeBall, he saw the glow on the button fade, but the ball remained in its shrunken state.

"So that's how it works huh. I guess I would have to send another Pokemon before retrieving one from the ATDS. That or I could get one back, but the ball would be locked. Ah, I will figure it out later."

He put away his PokeDex and placed Sandshrew's ball on his belt. He looked down and saw Pidgeotto looking up at him.

"Oh yeah I forgot. Great job Pidgeotto!"

He got out a treat and handed it to Pidgeotto, who ate it without hesitation. After returning the bird to its PokeBall, he and Pikachu continued the trek towards Mount Moon.

By the time they got to the entrance of Mount Moon, it was late in the afternoon. Ash collapsed against the front wall of the small Pokemon Center that was outside of the entrance to catch his breath. Suddenly, several screeching bats flew out of the cave. _Probably heading out for the night. Hey wait a minute, those are Zubat!_

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on one of those Zubat!"

Pikachu jumped off of Ash's lap and zapped one of the bats on the edge of the group. It fell down down to the ground with a screech of pain and Ash wasted no time in catching it. As with Sandshrew, the ball locked up and he decided to send Pidgeotto over this time. Clipping Zubat to his belt, he turned to walk into the Pokemon Center. _I'll have to put stickers on Sandshrew's and Zubat's PokeBalls tonight. _He was suddenly stopped by a voice calling out to him.

"H-hey Ash, wait up!"

**End of Chapter 7**

So there you have it, chapter 7! Hope you enjoyed it!

By the way, the stickers Ash puts on the PokeBalls shrink and grow with the ball. Oh and the camera idea came from Trip of Pokemon Black and White except that Ash doesn't photograph every little bit of his journey, just after important battles.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: You get two chapters today since you have been deprived for a while (it's midnight here, so another chapter will be posted later today or tonight). Heh heh. Oh and thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I'm mostly using a combination of them for this chapter, but if I don't use yours or any of the suggestions, don't feel sad please - you can suggest things in the future or for the future if you'd like. I'm open to all and any suggestions, even if they seem silly. Some I get a good laugh out of. You can make them in a review or in a PM. I'd prefer the PM, but it's up to you.

If anyone would like to make some fanart for this story, I will be very happy. I love fanart. ^_^ I'd definitely love to see your interpretation of Ash's "special" Pokemon and the battles and training. Even specific scenes from the story would please me. If you do make some, I will post the links in my profile for people to see.

Anyway, on to the story! By the way, Brock isn't girl crazy in this story. That's one of the reasons he isn't a favorite character of mine. It gets on my nerves. It was funny at first, but then it just got old.

Warning: Lots of chatting between Brock and Ash before they go into Mount Moon. I would suggest not skipping it though.

**Chapter 8**

Ash turned around and saw Brock, the Pewter City gym leader, running towards him. He stopped in front of Ash and bent down, putting his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

"Brock? What are you doing here?"

"I _-pant- _g-give _-pant- _me a _-pant-_ minute."

After he caught his breath, Brock stood up and straightened his vest and shirt. Ash noticed they were soaked with sweat. _He must have ran all the way here. Poor guy. _The gym leader cleared his throat to gain Ash's attention.

"Sorry about that. I wanna talk to you about something if that is alright?"

Ash nodded and motioned for Brock to follow him in to the Pokemon Center. After handing his Pokemon over to Nurse Joy, he went over to a bench and sat next to the gym leader and waited for him to speak. A minute or so of silence and he finally spoke up.

"Ash... Would you like to have a traveling partner? At least for a little while. I understand if you'd prefer to travel alone since most trainers do anyway."

The raven haired trainer blinked and processed what Brock said. _A traveling partner? I guess it wouldn't be _too_ bad to have one since it does get rather lonely without any human contact for long periods of time. Then again I barely know the guy. Hmmmm... Aw what the heck._

"Sure Brock, I wouldn't mind traveling with someone for a little while. But what about your gym? You didn't close it did you?"

Brock shook his head.

"No, I didn't close it. Apparently my father snuck in to the gym to watch our battle and decided he would take over the gym again. He was the original gym leader of Pewter City, but he left on a journey to become stronger a few years ago, leaving me to take care of the gym and my younger siblings. He promised to return in a year after he left, but he didn't. He never even bothered to try and contact us."

At this, the spikey haired gym leader clenched his fists and looked down at his lap. Ash felt sorry for the guy._ This might sound insensitive, but..._

"What about your mother?"

"My mother left a few months after my father did. Haven't heard from her since."

_I can't imagine ever not talking to or seeing my mother for years like that. Mine might be a bit overbearing at times, but I still couldn't imagine being in Brock's position. The dad situation I can understand though._

"I can understand about your dad since I haven't seen mine in years either. But hey, let's get over this depressing talk. So, are you looking to enter the Pokemon League too?"

Brock, glad for the change in subjects, latched on to the new one. He looked up from his lap and looked up at the ceiling with a wistful look on his face.

"Nah, my dream has always been to become the number one Pokemon breeder. But because I had other responsibilities, I couldn't. By traveling with you, I can learn to be the best breeder I can become. There's an academy opening in the next couple of months and I would like to attend it. That's why I said I would only travel for a little while with you. I hope you are alright with it."

"Hey, that's fine with me. It's that Breeder's Academy opening outside of Celadon City right? I heard Professor Oak talking about it a few months ago. From what he says, breeders from all over the world will be attending it and the best of the best will be teaching there."

Brock was mildly surprised at Ash's knowledge.

"You sure seems to know a lot about breeding, Ash."

Ash rubbed the back of his neck at the statement.

"Well, I did a lot of research on Pokemon careers before I started my journey. I looked up a lot on breeding because I want to incorporate it into my training. The thing is, I suck at cooking, so I've had to buy my Pokemon's food and just use natural foods to enhance the flavors a bit."

Brock's eyebrows shot up as high as they could when the trainer said this.

"You're the first trainer I've come across who has wanted to do that. Tell you what, I normally keep my recipes to myself, but I'd be willing to teach you how to make Pokemon food if you want. I have no fear of competition from you since you seem to have a different career plan in mind."

Ash beamed at this.

"Would you? That would be awesome! My Pokemon would be much happier for it too. You are right though, I do have a different career in mind. My long term goal is to become a Pokemon Master, but from what I read, that will take me years, so I decided on a short term goal for right now- to become the Pokemon Champion of the different regions. And if that doesn't work out, I'll go with being part of the Elite Four then work my way up. Of course I have to win at the leagues first."

The gym leader whistled at this.

"You sure thought this out well, didn't you?"

"Yup, sure did!"

_**Ding**_

The noise startled Brock and Ash, making them jump a bit.

"Ash Ketchum, your Pokemon are ready."

Ash stood up from the bench and stretched then walked over to the counter to retrieve his Pokemon from Nurse Joy. Once he got close enough, Pikachu jumped on to his right shoulder and rubbed against the trainer in greeting. Ash scratched behind one of the black-tipped ears eliciting a "Chaaaaaaaa" in contentment.

"Hey buddy, you feeling better?"

"Pi Pikachu!"

"Awesome. Hey, I want you to meet our new temporary traveling partner. Come on."

He walked back over to Brock, who had stood up to stretch while he was getting his Pokemon. Pikachu flattened its ears against its head when he saw the gym leader. The rodent still didn't trust many humans yet, just Ash and Nurse Joys. When Ash saw the flattened ears, he quickly whispered to Pikachu.

"Hey Pikachu, it's alright. Brock's OK, he won't hurt you. You don't have to trust him yet, but just give him a chance, alright?"

The electric mouse nodded slowly, keeping its brown eyes on the spikey haired teen. Ash just sighed and stopped in front of Brock and introduced the two.

"Pikachu, this is Brock, he's the gym leader I fought while you were lazing about in the Pokemon Center room. Brock, this is Pikachu. It was my first Pokemon."

"Ah, I see why I didn't see it at the gym battle. Your first Pokemon you say... Don't trainers from Pallet Town normally get Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur as starters? And why is it staring at me like that?"

Pikachu was indeed staring at Brock with mistrust in its eyes. Ash explained with a bit of embarrassment in his voice.

"Um, well, see... I kinda overslept and was late to pick up a Pokemon. There were four starting trainers this year instead of three, so Professor Oak had to go out and catch another Pokemon for the fourth trainer. I ended up being the one who got the Pikachu he went out and caught. It's alright though, I wouldn't change that day for the world."

Ash stopped and pet Pikachu as he finished his last sentence and the rodent let out a purr of happiness. _I love its soft fur. _He stopped the petting and continued.

"The reason it is looking at you like that is because Pikachu doesn't trust a whole lot of humans yet. From what it told me, I'm surprised it trusts _any_ human."

Brock rubbed his chin as he looked right back at Pikachu. When he did, the rodent glowered at him.

"I see. Wait, you said Pikachu told you?"

"Yeah, is there something wrong?"

"No, it's just that humans are rarely able to understand their Pokemon word for word if that is what you are implying."

Ash scrunched up his eyebrows in thought.

"Yeah, I have always been able to understand Pokemon, even from a very young age. I guess I have just thought nothing of it until you mentioned it. It was just a natural occurrence to me. Don't know why I can, I just can."

Brock absentmindedly nodded in thought. Ash looked out of the souble doors of the Pokemon Center and noticed how dark it was. He yawned and sat back down on the bench and pulled over his backpack and sat it down in front of him. He pulled out his stickers, pot, Blood Moon leaves, and burner.

"Hey Brock, could you go to the restroom and fill this pot with water for me?"

"Sure, Ash."

"Thanks."

He handed it to Brock and picked up his stickers. He pulled off Zubat's PokeBall first and released it. It came out with a screech and landed on Ash's left shoulder. The trainer grunted at the extra weight, but otherwise ignored it. He went about putting the stickers on Zubat's PokeBall. He talked to the bat while he did so.

"Welcome to the team Zubat, we're glad to have you! OUCH!"

Zubat had given Ash a, what it deemed as "affectionate", quick bite on the shoulder. The trainer reached up with an unoccupied hand and rubbed the sore spot.

"Easy there Zubat, you almost drew blood."

The bat's ears drooped at that and gave a small screech of apology.

"It's alright. If you want to bite me, do it more gently next time OK?"

Zubat flapped its wings twice in place of a nod since it couldn't do so.

Ash finished with Zubat's stickers and returned it to its PokeBall. Just as he pulled off Sandshrew's PokeBall, Brock came back into the lobby with his pot. He put the PokeBall back for the moment and relieved Brock of his burden and put the pot on the burner, turning it on.

"Hey Ash, what do you plan on boiling?"

"Huh? Oh... Blood Moon leaves."

"Blood Moon leaves? Those are toxic for Pokemon!"

Ash mumbled under his breath as he put the leaves in the now boiling water.

"Sorry, didn't hear you."

"I just said that I know that, but I figured out that by boiling them, it gets rid of the toxins in the leaves. Took me a week and a lot of throw up to get it right."

"I see. Why did you decide to try and feed them to your Pokemon anyway?"

"Well, the leaves have a lot nutrients and healing properties in them I learned. That Butterfree you fought against? I caught it as a Caterpie two weeks ago. It was eating raw Blood Moon leaves and was the largest Caterpie I have ever seen! So I figured I'd get some basic info on them from my PokeDex. I decided I would try and get the toxins out so that nothing but the good stuff remained. Finally figured out that boiling gets rid of them, but the nutrients and healing properties remained. Though they are a bit diluted because of it."

The gym leader blinked slowly at this information.

"Huh, I never knew. Guess even those who know a lot about raising Pokemon learn something new."

The both of them laughed at this. Ash then unclipped Sandshrew's PokeBall once more, after remembering what he was doing earlier, and released it. Brock looked at it after calming down.

"Ash, I didn't know you had a Sandshrew."

"Yep, I caught it on the way here. I also caught a Zubat just before you came running up the hill."

Sandshrew was looking around the Pokemon Center curiously then its eyes settled on it new trainer. It tilted its yellow head as it studied Ash putting the stickers on its PokeBall.

"Say Ash, why are you putting stickers on your PokeBall?"

"I put them on all of my Pokemon's PokeBalls. Helps me identify them in case they are ever lost or stolen. The ones I put on the bottom of the PokeBalls can't be removed easily and are inconspicuous. The other ones are just for show basically."

"Ah, not a bad idea. I might do that."

Ash finished and called Sandshrew over to him. The trainer took off one of his fingerless gloves and started stroking the spot between the Pokemon's ears. It closed its eyes and gave a "Shrew" in contentment.

"Wow, for having such tough defenses, Sandshrews sure are smooth and soft." Ash murmured.

Ash stopped stroking the Pokemon and called out the rest of his team. Brock's eyes bugged out when he saw the Pokemon he had faced at his gym up close. His jaw dropped when he saw the Scyther the young trainer had.

"Hey guys, welcome our newest members to the team- Sandshrew and Zubat!"

The Pokemon all gave cries of greeting to each other. Zubat was flying around their heads giving off small screeches. Ash shook his head at this. _Sheesh, that is one jolly Zubat._ The trainer then introduced Brock, who was preparing food for all of them.

Half an hour later and everyone's food was ready. Brock had released his two Pokemon and introduced them to Ash's a few minutes ago. Ash had sprinkled the now dried and crushed Blood Moon leaves over all the food.

"You sure about this?"

"Of course. I've been eating these since I started boiling them. They add a bit of tang to our food. They've been keeping us fit and healthy too."

"Alright, if you say so."

They all ate their dinner with appreciation (especially Ash and his Pokemon) and exclaimed loudly that it was the best food they had ever eaten (only Ash understood was his Pokemon were saying). Brock got the gist of it and blushed, stuttering his thanks.

After dinner, the two humans recalled their Pokemon and cleaned up, then asked Nurse Joy if they could rent a room for the night. She handed them a key to the only available room in the Center (it only has one room for trainers since it is a very small Pokemon Center, but thankfully the room has two beds).

Ash and Brock walked down the short hallway to the room, unlocked it and went inside. They sat their stuff on the floor next to their chosen bed, and flopped down and just laid there. Ash was going to ask who got to have the shower first, but crinkling his nose at the smell of sweat from Brock, told him he could have it first.

Thirty minutes later and both of them were curled up under the sheets of their bed and falling alseep to the night time sonata of nature. Pikachu jumped on Ash's bed and curled up against his stomach and was asleep in 5 minutes. _Can't wait until we are sleeping under the stars again. I miss sleeping with all my Pokemon up against me._ With that thought, Ash fell into slumber.

The next morning, Ash and Brock quickly got ready so that they could leave early and get through the mountain as swiftly as they could.

Stepping out into the lobby, they gave a small goodbye to Nurse Joy and were about to walk out of the Pokemon Center when she stopped them to give a warning.

"Be careful you two. Other travelers have reported that there is a wild Pokemon in Mount Moon causing people all kinds of problems when trying to get through the mountain."

The two young men told her they understood and left.

Standing outside the entrance, Brock and Ash stared into the pitch black cave.

"Well, you ready Brock?"

"Yeah... Let's go."

Ash dropped to one knee suddenly and put his backpack in front of him. He opened it and pulled out a lantern and some oil and a lighter. Brock just stared at him.

"You sure came prepared for anything, didn't you?"

"Yup."

He got the lantern going and started walking toward the cave with Brock at his heels. When they got in, they could barely see anything in the inky blackness, even with the light source they had. They could hear a dripping noise in the distance with how silent the tunnel was. Ash growled under his breath. Pikachu was clutching tightly to Ash's shoulder in fear of the silence.

"Well, this sucks."

Even when the trainer said this quietly, the sound still reverberated off the walls in an echo. Brock shuddered a bit.

"This place gives me the creeps Ash, let's get out of here quickly."

"I'm with you there."

The two of them picked up their pace a bit and using the lantern to make sure they didn't fall over anything in their path. About twenty minutes of uninterrupted walking later, and they faltered in their walking when a large rumble echoed around them. Ash started backing up and accidentally bumped into Brock, making the future breeder stumble backwards and fall on his rear.

"Sorry Brock."

Brock only grunted and started to stand back up when a loud roar scared them witless. Ash waved the lantern around to see if there was anything near them. There wasn't.

"W-what do you think that was Brock?"

Now back on his feet, Brock listened as the roar sounded again.

"Not sure, but it sounds a bit like an Onix, only this roar sounds a little higher pitched with a bit of a jingle to it. Very strange. Do you think you can understand what it is saying?"

Ash nodded, even though he knew Brock couldn't see it. Closing his eyes, he listened as the roar sounded again, only it was closer this time.

"I think it's saying 'I found him, I found the one.' Not sure what it means by that though."

All of a sudden, something crashed through the ceiling above them and grabbed a hold of Ash in its mouth. Pikachu jumped off quickly after grabbing the lantern out of Ash's hand and landed next to Brock crying out to its trainer. The creature then went through the floor below them, covering the hole as it went so that Brock and Pikachu couldn't follow it down the hole.

"PIKA PI!"

"ASH!"

Brock and Pikachu rushed forward only to be stopped as the cave ceiling started to collapse. The breeder grabbed Pikachu and ran in the opposite direction. They barely made it out of the cave before the entire thing was closed off by rock. Nurse Joy came running out of the Pokemon Center at the sound of heavy rock falling.

"What in the world happened?"

"Pokemon _-pant- _took Ash _-pant- _and caused a _-pant- _cave collapse!"

Nurse Joy gave a gasp and ran back inside the Pokemon Center. Brock and Pikachu quickly followed. They saw her rush to a normal looking phone.

"This is Nurse Joy of the Mount Moon Pokemon Center. We have an emergency on our hands and need your Rock and Fighting team pronto!"

Silence.

"A couple of young trainers went inside the mountain and one was taken by a wild Pokemon. It caused a cave collapse. The captured trainer's Pokemon and his friend made it out before it collapsed on them."

More silence.

"OK, but please hurry!"

Ash groaned and opened his eyes slowly but closed them immediately when he was nearly blinded by bright light. _Uuuuuggghhhhh... What happened?_ Sitting up, he opened them even more slowly so that his eyes could get adjusted to the light. After a few seconds, he could look around properly with just a bit of squinting on his part. What he saw had him in awe. He was in some sort of cavern oasis and many Pokemon were running around playing. The walls of the cavern was covered in nothing but sapphire from floor to ceiling. The ceiling had a hole in it allowing bright sunlight to come into the cave. The light was reflecting off the gems in the walls creating a beauty like nothing Ash had seen. _Wow... Just wow!_

Ash made to stand up, but the same roar that he heard in the tunnel stopped him, though it wasn't as loud. He suddenly saw a large shadow loom over him and he whipped around in the direction it was coming from. There, in front of him, was the most beautiful Onix he had ever seen. _A sapphire Onix? _Though it was much smaller than normal ones and it wasn't shining like the sapphire in the walls. _Must be an older one. _The trainer crabbed walked backwards and bumped into the edge of whatever he was in. _A nest?_ It was a nest alright and it had eggs in it. Ash gulped. He was sure he was in for it.

The Onix only lowered its head and nudged Ash. He suddenly heard a feminine voice in his head.

_*_How are you feeling young one?*

Ash blinked in confusion.

"Are you talking to me... In my head?"

The Onix gave a rumble in her throat that Ash believed to be laughter.

*Indeed I am young one.*

"But... How? Onix can't learn to be psychic!"

*I do not have psychic powers young one, just mental telepathy. It took me many moons to learn it.*

"Oh... Are you the one who brought me here? And if you did, why?"

*I am indeed the one who brought you here young one. I have been waiting a long time for the one the legends all talk about and I have a couple of gifts for you.*

"Wha... Legends? Me? Huh?"

The Onix ignored the rambling trainer and lowered her head towards one of the eggs in the nest and gently lifted an egg that was shining a bright, blue sapphire color into her mouth. She then laid the egg gently in Ash's lap.

*I wish for you to take one of my children with you young one. I would go with you instead, but my time on this planet is nearly up. I have been alive for several centuries as it is and I eagerly await my eternal rest. Once the rest of my children hatch, I shall pass on here, the place where I was born as well. Do not feel sad for me Ash, whatever you do. Take care of, train, and raise my child to be the best. That is my dying wish.*

Ash just nodded and looked down at the egg he held in his lap and rubbed it a bit. Though Onix were normally cold, the egg was incredibly warm.

*I think I hear your second gift approaching. Be prepared to be tackled.*

The trainers eyes opened wide and he quickly put the egg in his backpack, wrapping it snuggly around some clothes, then set it aside. Just as he did, he was tackled and he lay flat on his back- a pink thing was jumping up and down on him in excitement. The ancient Onix gave a chuckle in the back of her throat.

*Well, here's your second gift young one.*

Ash tilted his head so that he could see what was jumping on him and nearly cried out in surprise.

"A Clefairy?"

*Yes. This young Clefairy has been looking for a worthy trainer. I called to her when I noticed you were in the mountain. She is now your Pokemon Ash Ketchum. Take good care of her.*

Ash picked up the Clefairy and finally got to stand up. He sat the eager Pokemon on the ground and pulled out an empty PokeBall.

"Welcome to the team Clefairy!"

"Clefairy!"

She jumped up and touched the PokeBall and was sucked in. The ball shook twice before stilling and locking up. Ash pulled out his PokeDex and swapped Scyther out, then put Clefairy's PokeBall on his belt.

"Thanks a bunch Onix! How soon do you think the egg will hatch and how the heck do I get out of here?"

*You are most welcome young one. The egg will hatch in about a month if you keep it warm enough. You can find the exit that way.*

She pointed her tail north across the cavern.

*I left some Moon Stones there for you as well at the exit. You will know when to use them when the time is right. I bid you farewell Ash Ketchum, and good luck.*

The sapphire Onix then wrapped herself around her remaining eggs and fell asleep. The whole ordeal had worn her out. _So Pokemon have genders huh... And here I have been calling them "it" all this time. Better find out what gender my other Pokemon are soon. Man what an adventure, I so want to get out of here._ With that, he stepped out of the nest and headed out across the large cavern.

In about ten minutes, he stood at the exit and looked down. The old Onix was truthful in her statement about the Moon Stones. There, at the corner lay about ten Moon Stones. He picked them up and placed them in a pocket he set aside in his backpack specially for evolution stones. Ash then stepped outside and noticed it was about 1 or 2 in the afternoon.

Pulling out his PokeDex, he swapped Zubat for Pidgeotto and called the bird out. It stretched its wings and gave a cry.

"Pidgeo!"

"Pidgeotto, I need you to fly to the other side of Mount Moon and find Brock and Pikachu for me. Tell them I am out of the mountain and will meet them in Cerulean City OK? Then fly back to me. Oh, and Brock is this tan guy with spikey hair. He's hard to miss."

Saluting Ash with a wing, the bird took off to complete its order. The trainer laughed at its antics and walked down the path that lead to the main path out of Mount Moon. _I need to train my new Pokemon soon. I think I will do that before I battle the gym in Cerulean City._

**End of Chapter 8**

Phew, what a long chapter. I was gonna split this up, but decided against it as the Mount Moon chapter would have been too short.

The one thing I found weird was how Pikachu started trusting 2 strangers right off the bat when he didn't like Ash or Professor Oak at all. Well I changed that yes I did.

If you see any grammar or spelling mistakes in any of the chapters, please let me know.


	9. Author's Note

A/N: I'll be taking a short hiatus for now because my college classes have started up and I want to focus on those more at the moment. If I have some free time in between now and the end of the quarter, I will type up the next chapter or chapters, but don't hold your breath. Don't hesitate to send me suggestions while I am away, I will still check my inbox and reviews and reply to any PM or review I get. Ciao for now!


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